Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Notes from the TV Wasteland

Does anyone else think that blue-haired loon Jonathan on The Amazing Race is a certified wife-beater? I mean, after last night's meltdown, someone should really set up some kind of intervention for that poor lady. His claims here.

Also, I caught a few moments of the incredibly uninteresting Spike TV Video Game Awards. Snoozefest. Not to mention watching any of it w/ that obnoxious DJ (Mixmaster Mike?) babbling on about whatever was a test in itself. Malcom from the Middle making jokes about a five-some w/ the Donnas. As if that little punk can't get way hotter chicks than the Donnas (everyone knows the only kinda hot Donna is married anyway).

Was the Video Game Awards the only place that was interested in a Motley Crue reunion? And during "Dr. Feelgood" I could have sworn they pulled an Ashlee Simpson and screwed up the timing to their backing track.

Samuel Jackson accepting "Game of the Year" honors for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas while repeatedly referring to it as Grand Theft Auto 2 was pretty amusing, however. I guess if Rockstar cared about their game being represented correctly someone woulda showed up. From what I saw of the show, though, I guess I can't blame them for skipping it.






Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Madden/EA strike exclusive NFL deal

EA gets exclusive NFL deal. Well, ESPN Sports can now mothball NFL2K6. This will turn the Madden juggernaut (which already killed off 989's Gameday series) into an all-out monopoly. Guess I'll be forced to switch back to Madden and shell out 50 bucks instead of $19.95 next year.

Some commentary on Neo-Cons from the UK

What Barry Says. Whatever that is.

X-Men spin-offs

I think this idea for a Magneto spin-off is on the questionable side. It might be ok if they don't get too WB with the actors.

The Wolverine spin-off could be interesting, especially if they do both movies with the Chris Claremont Ninja stories as the basis for the second movie.

Friday, December 10, 2004

New Trailers!

War of the Worlds teaser trailer. Interesting.

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory teaser. Ok, creepy.

New teaser trailer up for Batman Begins. Still looking like it might not suck.

Never read the comic and I know people are up in arms over the changes to the character, but, hell, this looks cool to me.





Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Class Action, Overtime, & Electronic Arts

Ah, tons of overtime expected all the time w/o pay. I wouldn't know anything about that. Looks like the "creatives" are battling back against the corporate monster. At least those poor saps at least got a feel-good memo.

The idea that developers "relish flexibility" particularly raised hackles: "This is supposed to imply that a salary-based schedule allows professionals a little flexibility in their work hours, not like the poor blue-collar bastards that have to punch a clock. Salary was supposed to mean that some weeks you work a little more, some weeks a little less, but in general you put in 40 hours a week. The entire concept of salary is meaningless if your continued employment depends upon you working 60+ hours a week," wrote one poster.


And, ah, "relishing flexibility." Right, right. I always relished racking up loads of illegal comp time without ever having the time to actually take it.

Another sketchy solution for Social Security...

So, what happens to the economy if people decide to put off retiring?

PG-13 for Cursed? Blade:Trinity didn't suck.

Apparently, Weinstein wants to make Cursed PG-13. Originally, Wes Craven + Rick Baker + werewolves sounded pretty damn cool. But after hearing the story, with the reshoots and all the trouble this movie has been through, I'm not holding out much hope for it being any good. But, PG-13? I don't know if I could even bring myself to the theatre for that. PG-13 is what kept my money in my pocket when it came to that guaranteed crapfest AvP. If it had been rated R I probably would have at least went to check it out.

I didn't expect much from Blade: Trinity, for example, but if it was rated PG-13 I wouldn't have even bothered to see it in the theatre. I just got back and it wasn't that bad. Triple H and Parker Posey weren't so rad. And Posey's fangs in particular weren't helping her deliver her lines. But Dracula-in-monster-form looked kinda cool, Jessica Biel was hot (if, unfortunately, not naked--again. She was hotter in Chainsaw, tho), and for a Blade movie it was fine. Blade 2 was probably better, but 3 was still better than 1.